Senate Passes Bill To End Air Delays

UPDATE 2: The bill has passed the House and is on its way to the president for his signature.

UPDATE: The House of Representatives is currently debating a measure to end the furloughs as well. Votes are expected this morning. 


Air travelers have been experiencing delays all week after furloughs of air traffic controllers due to mandated government cuts, called the sequester went into full force this week. Many airports, especially on the east coast, saw huge delays as controllers had to space out aircraft enough to deal with a reduced number of controllers to handel them and delays built up from there.

Well, the United States Senate has had enough of that. I think that's because some of them had trouble getting into DC this week for votes and didn't want delays on their weekly flights...but maybe they do really care about our flights as well. Last night the Senate passed a bill to allow the FAA to transfer $253 million from other accounts to provide a stop gap of the funds that were taken away from the sequester.

The House of Representatives is in session tomorrow, but as of now the measure is not on their schedule. But the Washington Post, in the above article concerning the Senate bill, believes they will take up the bill as early as Friday.

So...these delays may end up only being a week or so in nature.

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Sequester Delays Hit Airports

 As expected, and as we wrote about back in February, the first set of furloughs of air traffic controllers begins today, and air travelers are going to be the ones that suffer because of it. The sequester, which is finally starting to hit after going into effect at the end of February, means less air traffic controlers and less TSA Agents so you can plan on delays getting through the airport and then possible delays in the air to help air traffic controllers control the flight load with less staff.

I know that there was much debate when this was first brought up by the Department of Transportation if it would actually happen, and it may not be necessary, but it is real. There were reports of delays in different spots across the country yesterday because of air traffic control, so we don't have to like it, but we do have to prepare for it.

I just wonder how long the delays will last once they hit DCA and the first member of congress misses his/her flight or is delayed for hours and decides to try to end the delays. ;) 

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Are You Ready For 90 - Minute Delays At the Airport?

Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood took to the White House briefing room today to urge Congress to reach a deal on the so called "sequester" (mandatory spending cuts that will go into effect on March 1st) and warned of its consequences.

One of the biggest ones is the $600 million that will have to be trimmed from the budget and means less air traffic controllers and less TSA at the security check points. Over 100 air traffic control towers will be closed and 60 towers will lose their overnight shift. There will also be a one day per two week furlough for ALL FAA employees until September.

Secretary LaHood said, "As a consequence of employee furloughs and prolonged equipment outages from lower parts inventories and fewer parts technicians, travelers should expect delays. Flight to major cities like New York, Chicago and San Francisco could experience delays of up to 90 minutes during peak hours because we will have fewer controllers on staff.

We are aware that these service reductions will adversely affect commercial, corporate and general aviation operations. We also expect that as airlines estimate the potential impacts of these furloughs, they will change their schedule and cancel flights."

The delays could start as early as April 1st and will continue until September. 

The full letter from Secretary LaHood and FAA Commissioner  Michael Huerta to the airline industry is here. 

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March 1st Could Bring Travel Delays With Less Air Traffic Controlers and TSA Agents

In what has become regular order here in Washington, D.C. a storm is brewing over a set of mandatory spending cuts (the "sequester" as it's called) will go into law on March 1st unless Congress is able to come to a deal to avert or fix the problem. The sequester mandates a cut in spending across all government agencies and among those is the Department of Transportation who supervises air traffic controllers and the Department of Homeland Security who employs TSA workers.

A Huffington Post article out today indicates that if the cuts become law it could mean furloughs for air traffic controllers at least day every two weeks and cutbacks in airport security which could cause delays for travelers and airlines.
 
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